A Personal Note from the Pastor: On July 15, 1989, on the Feast of St. Bonaventure, I was ordained to the priesthood at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception by Archbishop William Levada. The Gospel proclaimed that day was from John 15 and included this phrase: “It was not you who chose me, says the Lord, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit.”
Please join me in thanking God for both inspiring my vocation and for extending the grace needed to respond to it each and every day for these 31 years. A big part of the Good News of the Gospel is that God does choose each one of us. God wants each of us to be a part of His family, He wants us to belong to Him. This has been essential to understanding my own vocation and it has been very affirming. Over these years, I have slowly but surely come to appreciate that God not only chooses us to belong to Him, but He also chooses us for His mission. He wants to use us to go and bear fruit for His Kingdom. Being a member of His “team,” in whatever capacity, means that our lives have purpose and meaning. No matter how “unqualified” or unprepared we may feel at times to make a difference, we must remember that God does not see us that way. Rather, He sees the infinite potential within each of us and chooses to use that potential for the building up of His Kingdom.
It has been a joy over these many years to reflect (at least every July 15th) on these two short phrases: “I have chosen you” and “Go and bear fruit.” Accepting our call from God will change our life and it will also change the lives of those whom we are called to serve. Thank you for changing my life by your faithfulness, by the way you live with great hope, and by your tender and healing love. My saintly Aunt Delores Roller (one of my Mother’s sisters) gave me a prayer card on July 15th, 1989. It still holds a coveted place in my prayer book of the Psalms. It reads: “Lord, I know you have chosen me. I pray that I might accept your call in my life. I accept the fact that you have appointed me to fulfill your mission in a unique and perhaps glorious way. Help me to continually say “Yes” to your call. Help me trust in you. Amen.”